Guarding the disabled

Cuomo plans justice center to protect those with special needs

Updated 11:24 am, Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Gov. Andrew Cuomo talks to journalists after announcing the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs.
/ Times Union

Governor Andrew Cuomo holds a press conference at the Capitol seeking new agency to look out for the care of disabled New Yorkers Monday, May 7, 2012 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Governor Andrew Cuomo holds a press conference at the Capitol...

Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg talks about the abuse of his disabled son during a press conference Governor Andrew Cuomo held at the Capitol seeking new agency to look out for the care of disabled New Yorkers Monday, May 7, 2012 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg talks about the abuse of his disabled...

ALBANY — Hoping to move beyond a tragic and sordid record in state government, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said he plans to create new state entity to consolidate oversight of the agencies that care for approximately 1 million disabled New Yorkers.

Under the plan, a new 400-person agency would investigate and in some cases prosecute allegations of abuse and neglect at facilities run by a slew of state agencies, most notably the state Offices for People with Developmental Disabilities, as well as Office of Mental Health and the Office of Children and Family Services.

In addition to those agencies, the new center would also police the departments of Health and Education as well as the Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services as they pertain to the disabled.

The Justice Center would consolidate the self-policing and investigatory functions that these state agencies now have, and it would take over much of the work currently done by the state Commission on Quality of Care.

The CQC as well as investigative functions of agencies like OPWDD have long been criticized as ineffective and unable to prevent abuse of the state's most vulnerable.

People with conditions such as severe autism, cerebral palsy or developmental disabilities frequently live in residential centers operated by OPWDD or in centers run by non-profit state-funded groups. Those with mental illness such as schizophrenia are cared for by the Office for Mental Health.

The state has weathered a history of complaints about lax punishment of workers who mistreat or neglect people in their care.

A recent New York Times series, for instance, detailed how OPWDD employees who were caught abusing residents were simply shuffled off to other facilities instead of being fired.

Stories about abuse and neglect have appeared on and off for years, ranging from the scathing 1970s exposes of treatment at the notorious Willowbrook Center to articles in the Times Union in recent years about lax safety standards that led to a fatal fire in an OPWDD residential center in the Adirondacks.

Cuomo acknowledged as much, blaming some of the problem on a steady decline in the quality of government administration over the decades. "This is a state government where dysfunction is rampant," he said.

Under the governor's proposal, the Justice Center would include an inspector general as well as a prosecutor who could subpoena accused workers and bring findings to a grand jury.

If the abuse in a given instance rises to the level of criminality, the prosecutor could work with county district attorneys to bring charges.

The agency would also maintain a 24-hour hot line where abuse allegations can be reported, as well as a registry of those found to have abused the disabled and therefore banned from such jobs.

Legal penalties for abuse also would be toughened; the law would establish that people in residential facilities cannot consent to sex with employees — a change that would make it easier for prosecutors to prove sexual abuse when the victim may not be able to testify adequately.

Legislative leaders including Assembly Democratic Majority Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos — who were at the announcement — signaled their support for the measure, saying it would likely be passed into law as Cuomo wants by the end of this legislative session.

Michael Carey, who has emerged as a key proponent of reforms after his autistic son Jonathan died in 2007 while in state care, said the package wasn't perfect. He believes there could be more emphasis on prevention rather than policing the agencies, and he has pushed for wide use of surveillance cameras in residential centers.

Others believe cameras could raise privacy issues since the centers are homes for the people who live there.

When asked about prevention during his press conference, Cuomo replied that "locks keep honest people honest," meaning that deterrence can serve as a good preventive tool.

And public employee unions who represent workers in residential centers and facilities may push back against some of the changes. Unions and OPWDD have been tangling for months over developing a new table of punishments for staffers who are found to be abusive.

Also, staffing the new entity could prompt some scrutiny: Cuomo's Secretary Larry Schwartz said the new Center would be staffed by both new hires and people pulled out of the existing agencies.

Critics might question the use of people from those agencies, where the abuse has long been overlooked, in a new watchdog function.

On Monday, unions said they were supportive of the improvements, but stressed that they still need to see details.